Before you can take care of your new baby, you need to take care of yourself first and your baby, even if she’s still in your womb. You can do this by keeping doctor’s appointments and living a healthy lifestyle while you’re pregnant.
There’s a lot of advice out there, but we just want to keep it short and straightforward. Doing the following tips will ensure you’ll have a healthy pregnancy.
Eat the Right Foods
You need certain nutrients like iron, protein, folic acid, calcium, and iodine when you are pregnant. Therefore, having intelligent food choices is helpful if you want to achieve a healthy pregnancy.
Eating healthy also means following a healthy eating pattern which includes various nutritious foods and drinks. This includes eating various fruits, vegetables, whole grains, low-fat or fat-free dairy products, and protein foods.
Opt for foods and drinks with less sodium, sugars, and saturated fats. Limit refined grains and starches such as white bread, cookies, and some snack foods.
Take the Right Supplements
Even if you already get most of the vitamins and minerals from your healthy, varied diet, you also need to take some supplements. For example, if you’re trying to be pregnant or as soon as found out you’re pregnant, you should already start taking 400mcg of folic acid in a day. This helps to prevent birth defects.
Moreover, you also need to take at 10mcg of vitamin D in a day to keep your bones and muscles healthy, especially now that we are spending more time indoors than usual.
But it’s also important to note that there are some supplements and multivitamins we need to avoid, especially those containing vitamin A or retinol, as these can harm your baby’s development.
Detoxify Your Body
Given the toxic load, most of us carry around, we should consider detox as we think about getting pregnant. We can do some steps to do this, like starting a prenatal vitamin, detoxing your care routine, and eating organic as possible.
First, we need to go organic as possible in your cosmetics, personal care products, body products, and house cleaners. This way, you can ensure that you clean up any everyday toxin sources.
Make sure that your diet has natural detox contents to support your daily bowel movement. For example, leafy greens, good quality proteins and fats, fresh or frozen berries, and Lacto fermented foods help natural detox.
Lastly, you can add detox steps depending on your health problems. These include evaluating for heavy metals, especially if you have an autoimmune disease, and clearing inflammation by avoiding sugar and processed foods.
Minimize Stress
Stress is one of the most common feelings that many expecting moms experience – hello hormones!
While it’s normal to experience stress about your body, baby, and life changes, prolonged or severe stress during pregnancy isn’t good for you. High levels of constant stress worsen your pregnancy symptoms (body aches, trouble sleeping, etc.) and other more significant issues such as weight problems, depression, and high blood pressure.
Some stress-reducing tips include taking deep breaths, aiming for 7 to 9 hours of sleep, incorporating some workouts, eating right, and sharing your feelings with others.
Don’t Compare Your Pregnancy to Others.
Comparison can happen in any stage of life, especially in pregnancy and even when the baby arrives. It’s easy to look at others and change your perspective of what you feel, do, or look like, especially in social media.
It’s just so overwhelming from the morning sickness symptoms, bump size, how often you exercise, foods you crave, how often they work, or how long their maternity leave, baby names, and so forth!
However, it’s essential to know that there is never any right or wrong during pregnancy. Don’t overthink. Allow yourself to breathe. Listen to what your body needs each day. Relax.
References:
https://www.amirankin.com/blog/pregnancycomparison
https://www.nhs.uk/start4life/pregnancy/vitamins-and-supplements-pregnancy/
